Gifts Let Cooks Turn Over New Leaves

Miriam Morgan, Karola Saekel

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, December 16, 1998

Some of the cookbooks published this fall practically beg to be given as holiday gifts to cooks. -- "How to Cook Everything" makes quite a claim with its title. Yet the fact that it is perhaps the season's most critically acclaimed cookbook attests to the fact that author Mark Bittman, a widely respected chef and food journalist, is not just blustering. "Great food is simple to prepare," he writes -- and then proves it in more than 1,500 recipes. These are recipes that are thorough yet straightforward -- and cover all the basics from a crisp roast chicken to a haunting lamb curry. Side dishes, desserts, breakfasts, breads and beans are all here, as are instructions for making sauces and spice blends, information on ingredients and equipment, and drawings that illustrate techniques (how to carve a turkey, core and shred cabbage or make puff pastry palmiers).

But the book is not just for beginners: More advanced cooks will find this a welcome reference, with methods and recipes streamlined and updated for cooking well into the millennium. "How to Cook Everything," by Mark Bittman (Macmillan, 944 pages, $25). -- Miriam Morgan

-- "The Complete Meat Cookbook," a tome by the veteran team of Bruce Aidells and Denis Kelly is both Carnivore 101 and a graduate course in meat. The basic anatomy of the animals we consume, the cuts of meat, their best uses, food safety, curing and cooking methods, suitable accompaniments and wines, and ideas for leftovers are all there -- even advice on how to talk to "the meat guys" at your market.

The recipes -- about 230 -- range from festive to everyday fare, and those for marinades, brines and rubs alone would be worth buying the book.

LATEST FOOD VIDEOS

Meet In-N-Out's Billionaire Owner, a Millennial Drag Racing Enthusiast Who Has Been Married 4 Times and Escaped Kidnapping TwiceTime

Bacon Asparagus Brie Bites Are The Perfect Spring AppDelish

Here's How Chick-fil-A Makes Their Famous BiscuitsSouthern Living

You New Favorite Drink: Champagne MulesDelish

3 Things to Keep In Mind When Eating Fast FoodTime

Amazon Has New Competition with Walmart's Online Grocery DeliveryWibbitz

How to Make Cheesy Rice BallsMyRecipes

How to Make Instant Pot Magic Melting PotatoesMyRecipes

13 Annoying Things You’re Doing At Restaurants, According To ServersDelish

2 Delicious Ways to Make LasagnaGoodHousekeeping

Both Aidells (founder/owner of the Bay Area's Aidells sausage company) and Kelly (a sometime chef, food/wine consultant, teacher and poet) love hearty food, and their enthusiasm shows in occasional anecdotes as well as mouthwatering descriptions.

It's difficult to tell whether the authors prefer certain meats, though they seem to lavish special attention on pork. Check out the Thai or Chinese-inspired ribs or the marvelous pork tenderloin with apples that looks complicated because of a long list of marinade ingredients but is a snap to make.

There are great lamb recipes as well (Moroccan lemon tagine, Middle Eastern kebabs and mustard- rosemary-scented roast leg of lamb). Beef eaters get their due with roasts and briskets and such simple but splendid preparations as Beefsteak Florentine.

Nutritional considerations have made many American consumers cut down on their consumption of meat. This book can assure them that when they do eat meat, they will derive maximum pleasure from the meal.

-- "Mediterranean Grains and Greens," the latest book from culinary explorer Paula Wolfert, is perhaps one of her most approachable.

Wolfert, who lives in San Francisco, is renowned for traveling the world to find authentic ingredients and techniques and then sticks with them. It can sometimes intimidate those of us whose kitchens aren't stocked with spice blends from Turkey and couscoussieres from Tunisia. But here, the range of ingredients is more accessible, especially for Bay Area cooks who can easily find arugula, broccoli rabe, red chard, even dandelion greens in season, not to mention grains like polenta, risotto, barley, bulgur and various types of rice.

Wolfert combines all these in regionally authentic yet easy-to-follow recipes, sun-splashed with flavor and imagination -- "cooked" salads, for instance, or greens and eggs. The results are tantalizing, nourishing and satisfying on every level. And her tales of discovery -- like her visit with Sara the Kurdish-Jewish goatherder -- brim with honesty, humanity and humor. "Mediterranean Greens and Grains," by Paula Wolfert (HarperCollins, 368 pages, $27.50). -- M.M.

-- "My Mexico: A Culinary Odyssey With More Than 300 Recipes," is vintage Diana Kennedy in its mixture of travel memoirs, highly personal observations on food and the people who prepare it, and recipes that plumb the depths of Mexico's wonderful cuisine.

These are not recipes you can throw together from the standard American pantry, but the search for the perfect ingredients is part of the culinary adventure with Kennedy as your guide. Her professional photography adds to the experience.

-- "Lidia's Italian Table," by New York restaurateur, television personality and lecturer Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, is as much fun to read as it is to cook from. Vignettes and anecdotes bring the culinary culture of Italy into focus, setting the stage for some wonderful dishes.

Some recipes are fairly labor intensive -- Merlot-braised chicken thighs, for example, requires boning the thighs, then stuffing them with sauteed vegetables and braising them with garlic, wine and stock.

Others are disarmingly, almost deceptively simple when you consider the stunningly delicious results. Take spaghetti tossed with a quick-as-a-flash saute of chopped raw shrimp, garlic, shallots and a hot cherry pepper from a jar. It's finished off with basil, parsley and a few mint leaves that imbue it with an intriguingly fresh note. "Lidia's Italian Table," by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich (390 pages, William Morrow and Co. Inc., $26). -- K.S.

INSTRUCTIONS: Combine all marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Put the tenderloins in a zipper-lock bag or bowl and pour the marinade over. Marinate overnight (cover the bowl if used) in the refrigerator, turning occasionally.

About 30 minutes before cooking, remove the meat from the marinade, reserving the marinade. Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the tenderloins lightly, turning them frequently to brown on all sides, 3 to 4 minutes total. Remove the pork from the pan and set aside. Spread the apple slices in the pan and put the pork on top. Brush the pork with some of the reserved marinade and roast at 425 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes, until the internal temperature is 145 degrees to 150 degrees.

Transfer the pork and apples to a warm platter and cover loosely with foil while you prepare the sauce.

Add the chicken stock to the roasting pan and boil, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom; transfer to a saucepan. Add the reserved marinade and the apple juice to the saucepan and boil over high heat to reduce the sauce almost to a syrup. You should end up with about 1/4 cup of sauce. Taste for salt and pepper. Carve the pork into 1/2-inch-thick slices, arrange the apples on top and pour the sauce over. Serves 4 to 6.

Place the olive oil in a 9-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat, and tilt the pan so the oil accumulates near the heat source. Heat until the oil just begins to expand in volume. Immediately add the bread and fry, stirring from time to time, until golden. Use a spatula to scrape the cubes to the other side of the pan, and remove at once to a paper towel to drain.

Set the pan over medium-low heat, add the pancetta and cook for 3 minutes, stirring. Add the dried herbs and cook another minute.

Meanwhile, beat the eggs in a mixing bowl with the salt and a pinch of pepper.

In a second bowl, toss the greens with the prepared vinaigrette and set near the skillet.

Add the eggs to the skillet and scramble while gradually adding the prepared greens. You will need to lift the skillet off the heat to avoid overcooking the eggs.

CRETAN MIXED GREENS & TOMATOES WITH BLACK-EYED PEAS

Cooks on the island of Crete make this with wild fennel bunched with salsify tops and other fragrant greens that are nearly impossible to find here. We can substitute beet greens, young spinach leaves, pea shoots and chard.

INSTRUCTIONS: Soak the black- eyed peas according to package directions. Drain and cook in fresh water to cover until almost tender, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, wash the fennel and greens and let sit, dripping wet, on a plate.

In a 4-quart saucepan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onion, green onions and the fennel; cook until soft, golden and aromatic, 10 minutes. Add 1 cup water and continue to cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes.

Add the greens to the saucepan along with the cilantro, tomatoes, fennel seeds, and salt and pepper; cook for another 10 minutes.

Drain the black-eyed peas; discard the water. Add the black-eyed peas to the saucepan along with a few tablespoons water, if necessary, to keep everything moist. Simmer another 10 minutes and correct the seasoning.